Day

To do: This article has a lot of fuzzy numbers. Use exact times.Care to do so?

The Pikmin games take place over the course of several days. Dangerous creatures roam at nighttime, so exploration on the Pikmin planet only happens during the daytime, from 7 AM to 7 PM.[1] The number of days spent on the planet is also important in some games: in Pikmin, Captain Olimar has 30 days before his life-support systems fail and he's stranded on the planet permanently, and in Pikmin 3 the number of days left is determined by how many bottles of fruit juice are left, for a maximum of 99 days. Pikmin 2 has no day limit, and in New Play Control! Pikmin and Pikmin 3, the player is given the ability to go back in time and retry from a certain day of their adventure. A common challenge run in the Pikmin games is to complete the game taking the least amount of days possible.

The Sun Meter at the top of the HUD indicates the amount of daylight left, so effectively, the time the player has left on the current day. A number on the top right corner indicates the current day. A Pikmin game day lasts around 13 to 16 real-life minutes, varying slightly per game. In Pikmin's Challenge Mode though, every area has its own duration. As the day goes by, the lighting on the area changes much like it does on Earth, but enemy behavior and area layout remains constant all throughout.

Any important objects that are moved from their original spot will remain in the new spot on any following day. When a smaller enemy is killed, it respawns in its original place on the very next day. This is not true for larger enemies like Red Bulborbs, which take more days to respawn. Some enemies only appear in certain days. Some of the most notable enemies with this characteristic are the Smoky Progg, which disappears after day 14, the Ujadani, that only appear every 30 days, and the Goolix and Mamuta on The Impact Site, that appear in alternating days. For a list of all enemies that appear in exclusive days, please read the list of enemies on the corresponding area article.

When the sunset arrives, all leaders and Pikmin must stop what they are doing, retreat into the Onions and ship, and spend the night in low-orbit, due to the fact that many predators become active at night.

When the sunset arrives, any Pikmin that are considered to be "safe" will be able to board their Onion, spend the night above the surface, and be ready to be picked up the following day. When the day ends, be it normally or from the pause menu, Pikmin will be considered safe if:

They're in a leader's group.

They're close to an activated Onion.

They're buried.

They're close to an unactivated Onion, in Pikmin 3 only.

They're transitioning between sections of the area, in Pikmin 3.

It doesn't matter which Onion the Pikmin is close to, even if the Pikmin's type does not match the Onion's type.

While in the first two games, it is difficult to tell if a Pikmin is considered safe, Pikmin 3 added some ways to know for sure. For starters, a large white circle appears around all activated Onions on the area. Although unactivated Onions do not show the circle, the safety radius still exists, and if a dormant Onion is activated after the sunset warning period begins, the circle will still not appear, but nearby Pikmin will still be counted as safe. This radius can also be seen on the radar. A small counter will appear on the top-right corner of the HUD to alert the player of how many Pikmin are in danger of being left behind. On the KopPad, what types of Pikmin that are idle are displayed near the top of the map, along with how many. Pikmin icons will also appear larger on the radar when the sunset is approaching, and the icons of those that are in risk of being left on the surface will also appear flashing on the radar. Finally, when the player attempts to finish the day from the pause menu, a warning will show up saying that Pikmin will be left behind, if there are indeed any Pikmin considered not safe when the player tried to end the day.

Some minutes before the sun is down, a message will appear on-screen warning the player that they need to gather their Pikmin. During this time, the music changes to a calmer remix. After some seconds (around 42 in Pikmin, around 32 in Pikmin 2, around 2 minutes in Pikmin 3) a countdown from 10 takes place. The time interval between two digits is around 3 seconds in the first two games, totaling for around 36 seconds in Pikmin, and around 30 seconds in Pikmin 2, until the countdown reaches 0. Interestingly, in Pikmin, after the counter reaches 4, the player is no longer able to interact with the S.S. Dolphin. In Pikmin 3, the warning instead comes two circles from sunset on the Meter.

When the countdown finishes, two cinematic sequences take place. The first scene starts with all conscious leaders and safe Pikmin walking up to the landing site. The main leader then dismisses and orders every Pikmin to get on their Onions or ship. Any Pikmin that is near an Onion, but away from the landing site will still climb to their Onion, despite not being shown. Any Pikmin that are buried will remain buried in the same spot, and can be plucked on another day. After everyone is apparently gathered, the leader(s) climb on board of the ship.

During this cinematic, a song plays that's a bit different between games. In Pikmin, it's a bit slow, and has a part that repeats twice. The cutscene is also notably long. In Pikmin 2, there are 4 songs that can play during this cinematic:

If the player obtained no treasure, even if they gathered Pokos from enemies, a simple and quiet remix of the main "end of day" theme plays.

If the player has collected some treasures, the regular song takes place.

A third, more upbeat version of the song will play when the player has collected 15 or more treasures during the day.

The final theme plays when both leaders are down or a Pikmin extinction occurs. It's a sad and lower-beat version of the main "end of day" theme.

The second cinematic shows the ship preparing for lift off, while wild creatures draw near. If any Pikmin were left behind, they'll be shown running towards the ship in an attempt to be saved. However, it is too late, and the wandering enemies will quickly dispose of them. The ship then takes off, and the stats for that day are shown. This is when the player may save the game, and read Olimar's voyage log, mail, or the Koppaites' voyage log. The following is a list of enemies that appear in each area in Pikmin and Pikmin 3, given that in Pikmin 2, the game picks randomly from the enemies that can appear in the area, with more Pikmin left behind resulting in more enemies:

This article or section is a short summary on the Final Smash.SmashWiki features more in-depth content.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, Olimar's Final Smash is called End of Day. It shows Olimar jumping into his ship then rocketing off into space as night approaches. The stage below becomes infested with mature Bulborbs that deal heavy damage to foes; following this, the ship crashes and explodes, hurting all nearby enemies. Strangely, Pikmin will be left behind and are immune to the predators, but not to other players.

Olimar's Final Smash. Dusk falls, and his spaceship makes a landing. Olimar takes the Onion, with all his Pikmin aboard, and blasts off for the stars. In Pikmin, native life-forms grew active and violent at night, making it lethal to remain on the surface—this is why Olimar would take his Onions and leave at night. This technique breaks the framework of the game.

On the planet Olimar is investigating, the native creatures become extra violent at night, forcing him to retreat to orbit every evening. His Final Smash works the same way: night falls and Olimar takes to the sky, leaving his foes to the mercy of the wildlife below. Olimar returns when dawn breaks and you can adjust his less-than-safe landing!

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EU description:

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On the planet of the Pikmin, the native creatures get quite violent come nightfall, so Olimar retreats to orbit every evening. That's how his Final Smash works, too: Olimar takes off in his trusty Dolphin[sic], then in come the beasties to take care of the other fighters. When Olimar returns, make sure he touches down, er...safely!

In addition, in Pikmin 3, the player can go back to any previous day, and going back to day 1 effectively resets the story: some otherwise permanent information, like all charted locations of an area on the radar, and the code used for the Secret Files, are reset when the player goes to day 1, finishes it, and saves the game.

The weather change is randomly picked when the area is loading, meaning that if the day is restarted from the pause menu, it could load with a different weather condition.

Some days will be forced to have a specific weather.

The first day will always be sunny.

The first time Alph and Brittany land on the Distant Tundra, it will always be snowing

On the days when the Quaggled Mireclops or the Plasm Wraith are ready to be fought, the weather is forcefully rainy. This helps set the mood and, for the Mireclop's case, helps justify the creation of puddles on its swampy arena. Even if the boss is fought on a sunny day, the battle will happen in exactly the same way, however.

As time goes by, the daylight changes much as it would on Earth, with the area being slightly foggy during the morning, the most lit during the middle of the day, and darker near the night.

In Pikmin, the shadows under Pikmin and Olimar point to different directions as the day goes by. At the start of the day, they point to the southwest, at midday, to the south, and near the end, to the southeast. This is similar to sun-cast shadows on planet Earth, given that the sun rises on the east (and hence, the shadows are cast to the west), and sets on the west.

In the first game, in order to avoid rendering too many shadows at once and slowing the game down, Pikmin shadows are completely omitted if there are 51 or more Pikmin on the field. In Pikmin 2, this limit does not exist, but shadows do not change direction as the day progresses, and are cast directly under the leader or Pikmin. In Pikmin 3, all objects cast shadows, but shadows mainly remain directly below objects to more easily judge location and depth; they only elongate very near sunset.

In Pikmin 2, there is a small delay before the day time continues, when unpausing the game. By repeatedly pausing and unpausing, one can gain a slight bit of time.[2]

In Pikmin 2, the text for the message "Hurry! Gather your Pikmin!" changes color depending on how much time is left. From 10 to 7 it is white, from 6 to 4, yellow, and from 3 to 0 it is a reddish orange.

In Pikmin 3, if the Master Onion was in the process of beaming up something while the sunset cutscene starts, the effects for the beaming will remain throughout the cutscene, until it sucks in its "legs".

In Pikmin 3, if all leaders become unconscious while the safety zone rings are visible, they will stay visible throughout the sunset cutscene.

In Pikmin 3, thanks to the KopPad, it is possible to watch the sunset [3]